


The Trouble With Secrets

by marieshens



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya leaps to conclusions, Alya-centric, Established ladrien, F/M, Happy Ending, Identity Issues, Identity Reveal, Minor Angst, Misunderstandings, Protective Alya Césaire, established adrinette, okay a fair amount of angst, post-reveal (one-sided), she's just trying to protect marinette okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-01 04:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14512782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marieshens/pseuds/marieshens
Summary: Alya's elation at Adrien and Marinette finally getting together is severely dampened when she comes across Adrien and Ladybug kissing in an alley. In an attempt to protect Marinette and see that justice is done, Alya (of course), makes everything worse. Many misunderstandings ensue.





	1. Alya's discovery

Alya was walking on clouds. Finally, (and a little unexpectedly, if she really admitted it to herself), Adrien had asked out Marinette. On a date. And the girl, bless her heart, had managed to keep her cool long enough to answer with something halfway between a squeak and a ’yes’.  
That had been a week ago, and Alya had been delighted to see just how right her friends were together. Marinette had always believed she and Adrien were destined to end up together, and while Alya had firmly supported her friend at every turn, the flicker of doubt had entered her mind as the months of Marinette’s obsessive crush and Adrien’s oblivion wore on, that perhaps it just wasn’t meant to be. Nino had hinted that Adrien liked someone else, after all. Maybe she shouldn’t have encouraged Marinette. Maybe she was just going to get her heart broken.  
But watching her Adrinette ship sail brought happy, maternal tears to Alya’s eyes. Adrien made Marinette happy, and it was clear from the lovesick way he stared at her with that adorable crooked smile that she was his whole world. One day Alya would not be able to resist her investigative tendencies and she would pin Marinette and Adrien down until she understood just how, exactly, they had got so close in such a short period of time, but that could wait. For now, she was just happy to see them happy, smiling, flirting and reducing each other to helpless giggles at the slightest word or look. Occasionally she seemed to catch Marinette looking at Adrien with an equally confused look, but Alya could see she was falling even more in love with Adrien now he was showing this more open, playful side. Alya hadn’t known it was possible for Marinette to fall more in love with Adrien. The girl was full of surprises.  
Alya felt herself grin. Marinette and Adrien were together, the LadyBlog had been voted Best Superhero Blog in Angle magazine, and Nino had a ’special date’ planned for her that evening. And the summer holidays had started half a day early due to an Akuma attack, of which Alya had got some fantastic footage while wedged behind a chimney. As The Cobbler threw shoes made of stone at Ladybug and Chat Noir, Alya’s heart had been in her mouth. There had been one terrifying moment when the akumatized monster had flung Ladybug like she was a rag doll and she had crumpled behind a dumpster, out of Alya’s sight. She didn’t think she ever wanted to hear Chat Noir’s wrenching scream again. But a second later, Alya was cheering internally as her favourite hero leapt back up with a determination almost worthy of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  
When the heroes bumped fists and the miraculous swarm had restored Paris to its normal state, Ladybug had glanced in her direction, and even though she frowned in concern at seeing a civilian stand so close to battle lines, she shot Alya a wink and a thumbs up.  
Which, alone, would have made Alya’s day the best one ever.  
She practically skipped along the streets of Paris, without actually skipping, of course, because that was more a Marinette thing and Alya might sometimes envy her friend’s determination and sense of justice but that didn’t make her Marinette. The sun was shining, but she suspected her mood wouldn’t have been dampened much if it wasn’t. Surely, it was too good to last.  
It was.  
As Alya approached the corner, she heard low voices.  
A girl’s voice, sounding remarkably familiar but unplaceable.  
”I’m sorry. It’s just difficult- you know? After so long- and having a civilian-”  
”Ah, but I’m not just any old civilian, am I?” An amused, male voice.  
Alya stuffed her fist into her mouth. She knew that voice. That was none other than Adrien Agreste, her best friend’s boyfriend. Talking to another girl. In a dark alley. Her detective instincts humming, she poked her head around the corner- and saw the absolute worst thing in the world  
Well, perhaps not the absolute worst.  
But pretty close.  
Alya’s eyes began to bug out as the pair in the alleyway kept going, and going, and going. Didn’t they need to breathe? Barely aware of what she was doing, she pulled out her phone and took a furtive picture before turning in the other direction and trying to walk as quickly and unobtrusively as possible while her mind reeled through what she had just seen. She was glad she had the picture. Otherwise, she knew, her brain would have tried to convince her that she couldn’t have seen Adrien Agreste making out with a (very willing) Ladybug. Things like that just didn’t happen in Alya’s world.  
As she walked, her pace slowed as the panicked disbelief that had caused her to run away slowly seeped out of her, replaced by cold fury. How dare he? She had misjudged Adrien, badly, and her heart ached at the thought that it was going to be Marinette who would suffer for this.  
Second only to her disappointment in Adrien was her disappointment in her hero. Ladybug was Alya’s idol. Alya expected more of her than to be getting it on with someone else’s boyfriend in an alley. And, judging by that kiss, it wasn’t a one-off thing. That looked like they had been doing this for a while.  
****

 

”Marinette is breaking up with you, Agreste.” Alya's voice was cold and vicious.  
”Wha-” Adrien began, but Alya didn’t have time to listen to him.  
”And can I just say, that what you did was despicable. I found out the truth, and I can’t believe you would go behind her back like that. You know what I’m talking about.” She huffed, and when she continued, Adrien heard the crack in her voice, as if she was a moment away from crying. ”Marinette’s a good person, you know? She’s the best thing that ever happened to either of us, and she deserves the best as well. Unfortunately, that’s not you. Don’t bother calling her. You’ve done enough.” There was a click, and Alya was gone.  
Adrien stared at his phone, as if he could will it to come to life with some explanation. There was a lump growing in the back of his throat.  
”Marinette broke up with me,” he whispered, brokenly.  
Plagg, floating by his ear, did a somersault and burped. ”What did you do, kid?”  
”I didn’t....” his eyes widened. ”Oh no.”  
”What?”  
Adrien groaned and flung himself onto his bed. His voice was muffled by the mattress.  
”Alya must have found out I’m Chat Noir. And Marinette is breaking up with me because I didn’t tell her, even after I found out she was Ladybug. Alya’s right. I am a despicable person. I knew Ladybug doesn’t like Chat Noir like that. I manipulated Marin- Lady- Maribuginette. I lied to her, by omission, and Marinette can’t stand liars. Almost as much as she can’t stand Chat Noir.” He lifted his head, despair etched into his features. ”I really do destroy everything I touch, Plagg, don’t I? Alya’s right. Marinette is the best thing that ever happened to me, and now she’s gone and she’ll never trust me again.” He groaned and, pulling his pillow to him, buried his face in it.  
”Whoa, whoa, kid,” Plagg said, floating over to Adrien and taking a bite of cheese. ”You don’t know any of that for sure. Call Marinette. Find out what happened.”  
”Can’t,” the muffled voice said.  
”Why not?”  
”Alya said she doesn’t want to talk to me. And I understand that. Of course she doesn’t want to talk to me. She just found out I betrayed her trust.”  
”You can’t do nothing, kid.”  
”Watch me.” 

******


	2. Miscommunication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plagg, tired of drama, convinces Adrien to text Marinette. Marinette misinterprets.

”Plagg! What are you doing!”  
The kwami stopped banging his head against the wall just long enough to glare at Adrien with unnaturally green eyes.  
”Trying to drown out the sound of your stupidity, kid.”  
”My stupidity? It’s a piano, Plagg.” He plonked one of the keys pointedly. Plagg groaned.  
”Yeah, and all you play are sad songs. Nobody’s died, Adrien.”  
”They might as well have,” Adrien whispered. Tears were pricking at his eyes. ”Marinette dumped me. Ladybug dumped me. And she didn’t even think I was worth telling directly.” The music had almost helped him to forget, but he knew this was a pain that was never going to go away. ”It’s over, Plagg. You’re right. I am stupid. I never should have got together with her without telling her my identity. Of course she wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with Chat Noir. She’s made that perfectly clear. And now I’ve gone and ruined not just our relationship, but our partnership, and Ladybug won’t want to work with me, and I’ll have to stop being Chat, and give back my miraculous, and she’ll have a new Chat and probably fall in love with him instead, and I’ll be stuck here forever, and I won’t be able to go to school, because she’s right there, and Nino and Alya won’t talk to me either, and-”  
”Kid?” Plagg said, floating by his chosen’s ear. ”Breathe, kid.”  
For once he sounded genuinely concerned and Arien obediently sucked in a huge, shuddering breath. He stared desperately at Plagg.  
”What am I going to do? I can’t go back to just being Adrien.”  
”Well, first of all,” Plagg said firmly, ”You are not giving up your miraculous. I don’t want another Chat Noir; they’re such a pain to train. Ladybug’s smart- she won’t let her relationship problems get in the way of defeating akumas. Second, because I don’t want you letting your relationship problems getting in the way of defeating akumas, you are going to call Marinette right now and find out her side of this. Ugh, that felt disgusting. I’m giving you relationship advice. I’m beginning to sound like Tikki. Where’s the cheese, Adrien?”  
Adrien pointed and Plagg flew off happily to bury himself in a new wheel.  
”I can’t just call her,” Adrien said. ”You heard Alya. She doesn’t want to talk to me.”  
”Text her,” Plagg said, opening his mouth to reveal more half-chewed camembert than could logically fit inside a creature the size of a tennis ball.  
Adrien groaned. ”Fine.” He snatched his phone, unable to deny that he, too, wanted answers. Needed answers. Marinette might hate him for it, but so what? It could hardly get any worse.  
****  
It got worse.  
Marinette dropped her needle and grabbed her phone as soon as she heard the distinctive text tone she had set for Adrien. His texts always made her feel better, and her heartrate jumped in a happy anticipation that hadn’t faded since they got together.  
It took her a long time, staring at the message, before it made any sense at all.  
We were good together. I’m sorry it’s over. I know what I did was wrong and I understand if you don’t want to talk to me again, but I hope that one day we can be friends again.  
Yours sincerely,  
Adrien.  
She had always found it endearing how he liked to sign off his texts as if he was ending a formal letter, but now it just seemed tragic. It was as if he was signing off on their relationship.  
She gulped back a sob. It’s over. It’s over. The words burned themselves into her retinas. She felt the tears welling up behind her eyes and knew that she was about to cry in a very ugly way for a very long time.  
”Marinette?” Tikki squeaked, hovering in front of her. ”Marinette, what’s wrong?”  
”Adrien broke up with me,” she choked. ”And I love him, Tikki. I just love him so much and I thought he was happy too.” She slid from her chair to the ground and curled up on the floor, sobs wracking her body.  
It was some time later that Tikki’s insistent, worried voice roused her.  
”Marinette? Marinette, your phone!”  
”I don’t want to talk to anyone,” Marinette sobbed.  
”Marinette, it’s Alya.”  
Wordlessly, Marinette snatched up the phone and stabbed the answer button.  
”Marinette?”  
Marinette choked out a wordless response.  
”Marinette, are you okay? There’s something I need to talk to you about- about Adrien.”  
”I know,” Marinette sobbed. ”He broke up with me. Why, Alya? Why?”  
”Ah. Right.” Alya swallowed audibly and when she contined, it was with trepidation. She didn’t want to hurt Marinette, but her friend needed to know the truth. Maybe it would help her to move on.  
”I, uh, I. I caught him. Kissing, um...”  
The word Ladybug got caught in Alya’s throat. She still couldn’t quite admit to herself that her hero was so flawed. Maybe she could break that news later- Marinette had had enough horrible surprises today.  
”Another girl,” she finished. ”Marinette. I’m so sorry.”  
”Did you know her?” Marinette’s voice shook and Alya’s heart was breaking piece by piece.  
”No,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She didn’t know Ladybug. Nobody did. Apparently, she didn’t even know Adrien.  
”I can’t believe it,” Marinette was repeating, over and over. ”Adrien? Adrien cheated on me?”  
”Girl, I’ll be there in five. Okay? I’m going to hang up now but I will be at your place as soon as I can.”  
”Okay,” Marinette mumbled back.  
”Hang in there, girl.” Alya hung up and stared at her phone, feeling irrationally guilty. It wasn’t her fault. It was Adrien’s fault, and boy was she going to make his life hell. Ladybug’s too. If she could get her hands on her. Nobody messed with her Marinette and got away with it.  
When she climbed up through Marinette’s trapdoor, her bag stuffed with extra boxes of tissues, Alya was surprised to see Marinette no longer sobbing her heart out, but sitting cross-legged in a bed of used tissues while she stabbed something with grim determination. Coming closer, Alya saw that the girl had affixed one of her old photos of Adrien to a pincushion and was puncturing his pretty face with pins and needles and a sharp pair of sewing scissors. As Alya watched, Marinette’s eyes narrowed and she drove a knitting needle right through photo-Adrien’s eye.  
....Okay. If that was how she coped, Alya would fully support it.  
”Marinette?”  
Marinette looked up, and Alya’s heart ached again as she saw her best friend’s puffy, red eyes. She pulled Marinette into a hug, wary of the sharp objects littered around them.  
”I just thought better of him,” Marinette said in a small voice, her face pressed into Alya’s shoulder.  
”Me too, girl,” Alya said, sighing. ”But sometimes people aren’t who we think they are.”  
She couldn’t decide whether the sound Marinette made was a sob or a laugh.  
”No,” Marinette said. ”No, they definitely aren’t.”


	3. Another Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya breaks into the Agreste mansion and discovers another secret. Will she refrain from leaping to conclusions? Of course not.

 

If she was being rational, Alya would have reasoned that single-handedly trying to ruin her friend’s ex-boyfriend’s life by whatever means possible was perhaps not the most sensible idea. If she was being rational, she would have realised that trying to do so by sneaking into the Agreste household at four in the morning was an even worse idea.  
  
But Marinette had been _hurt_ and the rational part of Alya’s brain had long since fled for its own self-preservation until the storm was over. Which left her here, arms folded defiantly, wedged between a rose bush and the stone wall she had just scaled, staring up at the Agreste mansion. There must have been a hundred windows and Adrien could be behind any one of them.   
Alya huffed. This might, she allowed, be more difficult than she thought.

Dismissing that idea as unworthy of her journalistic ambition, Alya scanned the mansion again. The corner of her mouth curled up. A window was open. Just a crack, and two floors up, but it would be enough. Wedging her toes and fingers into minute crevices, Alya hauled herself up the side of the building. She hoped no one was watching. It really would not do to be caught at this point.  
In fact, it was fairly incredible that she hadn’t been caught already.  
Pausing briefly to consider whether she was impossibly lucky or unbelievably genius at not yet tripping the sophisticated security system of the Agreste household, Alya managed to miss the wide window that swung open just above her. She gave an indignant yelp as a pair of hands closed around her wrists and she was hauled upwards and into the room.  
Alya landed in a crumpled heap inside the room and immediately pulled herself to her feet, glaring pure flame at the boy who had dragged her in.  
”What the hell, Adrien!” she hissed. ”And when did you get so freakishly _strong?_ ”  
”Uh- sorry?” he said sheepishly, hand going up to rub the back of his neck. He froze. The hand stilled and his smile became a frown.  
”Wait. Why am _I_ apologising? You’re the one breaking into my house at four in the morning! You’re lucky I’ve already uninstalled the security cameras on this section of the house!”  
”Oh?” Alya said, arching a sharp eyebrow. ”And why is that? So you can receive clandestine visits from your spotted heroine?”  
Adrien’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. How much did Alya know? At this point he assumed just about everything, but his lady would kill him if he let slip something Alya didn’t already know.   
”So you... uh...know...”  
”I know you were cheating on Marinette with Ladybug, yes,” Alya snarled and Adrien retreated a few steps, suddenly regretting pulling Alya inside instead of letting her be caught. She stalked towards him with the walk of a predator. A thought seemed to occur to her and she paused her threatening prowl.  
”Does _Ladybug_ know, Adrien?”  
”What?”  
”Does Ladybug know about Marinette? Because I was mad at Ladybug as well as you, but if she _didn’t know-”  
_ ”Ladybug didn’t do anything wrong,” he said quickly, nearly tripping over as he backed into the wall. Alya advanced until she was barely inches away from him. He could feel the righteous fury radiating off her.   
”Adrien Agreste,” she growled, her words dripping poison. ”I am going to _kill_ you.”  
Adrien gulped as he considered his options. If he revealed Ladybug’s identity, Alya would be appeased, but Ladybug would never forgive him. If he transformed, he might be able to escape Alya’s wrath, but Ladybug would _still_ never forgive him. He was thoroughly screwed.   
Something hurtled across the room and hit Alya in the back of the head with a soft squelch. Adrien had just enough time to catch the green-eyed wink sent to him across the room before Alya’s head whipped around and a black blur disappeared behind Adrien’s bed.   
”What the hell was that?”  
Adrien took advantage of Alya’s distraction to slip away and dive out the door, slamming and locking it behind him. He took a deep breath. Okay, so Alya was on a murderous rampage. And she was trapped in his room. Ladybug had broken up with him. Everything was _fine._  
He straightened suddenly, breath catching in his throat as he dared to consider something.  
Ladybug hadn’t broken up with him. _Alya_ had made it her business to break him up with Marinette. He had presumed that was because she had found out his secret identity, but the only thing she seemed to be mad about was the fact he was two-timing Ladybug and Marinette, which was hardly a reason why Marinette/Ladybug _herself_ would be mad at him for. That had to at least _allow_ for the possibility that Alya- not exactly the queen of impulse control, especially when it came to defending her friends- had called him without consulting Marinette. Which meant the first Marinette had heard of it would have been-  
That text.  
Oh god.  
He was such an idiot.  
Adrien sank down against the door and tried to resist the urge to smack his own head into a wall. Marinette must have thought _he_ was breaking up with her, and over text of all ways. Forget Alya, he needed to talk to Marinette. He couldn’t imagine what she was going through. He reached into his pocket, groaning when he realised he’d left his phone inside his room. Marinette probably wouldn’t have answered his call anyway, not at this time of night. It was no use. He would have to visit her.   
He stood up straight, resolve strengthening him. It was alright. All of these misunderstandings would be sorted out by morning, and then Marinette would get back together with him and he would do what he should have done a long time ago and reveal his identity. In the future, he and Marinette would look back and laugh at this.  
Plagg phased through the door in a flash of green light.   
”Ah, perfect timing,” Adrien said with a grin. ”Come on, Plagg, we’re going on a little late night visit.”  
”It’s nearly morning,” Plagg grumbled, but his complaint was cut off by being sucked into Adrien’s ring.   


Alya’s eyes narrowed as her fingers came away from her hair sticky, stinky, and covered in what looked suspiciously like... was that camembert?  
”Did someone throw this?” she said aloud. ”Is there someone there?”  
She scanned the room. Despite its size, there really wren’t that many places to hide. ”Hello?” she called. ”Is anybody there?” She stalked over to the bed and peered beneath it. ”Anybody?”  
There was a weird scuffling sound and a blur of black. Alya whipped out her phone and shone its light beneath the bed. There was nothing there.  
Well, she said nothing....Alya’s eyes lit up at the sight of a square formed by thin cracks in the floorboards. A trapdoor. There was a trapdoor hidden beneath Adrien’s bed, which meant a secret, and Alya was a sucker for uncovering secrets. After what Adrien had done, she didn’t even feel bad about it.  
Alya shoved the bed out of the way and knelt beside the trapdoor. She didn’t know when Adrien would decide to come back and whether he would bring back up to evict her, so she needed to move fast. Her hands ran over the smooth surface, but there was no handle or latch or anything to grasp onto. Her fingernails scrabbled at the thin crack, but they were too short to gain any purchase. Looking up, hoping to find inspiration, her eyes fell on one of Adrien’s fencing trophies.  
A minute later, the thin blade of the fencing trophy bent from being used to lever the trapdoor, Alya sat back on her heels and grinned in satisfaction. The trapdoor was flung open, revealing a square of darkness with the thin rungs of a ladder disappearing into the murk. She picked up her phone and switched over to the camera function.  
”Hi guys,” she whispered, pressing record and sweeping the lens around her to take in the surroundings. ”Here I am, in Adrien Agreste’s room, and I found a secret passageway beneath his bed. Let’s see where it leads, why don’t we?”  
Going back now was not an option. She slid into the hole, holding the still-recording phone with one hand and gripping onto the ladder with the other. It seemed to go on forever. When her feet finally hit the ground instead of another rung, she swept he phone’s light around the darkened space and  gasped. She was standing in a cavernous hall, high raftered and filled with a very faint bluish-purple light. ”Wow,” she breathed, stepping forward.  
Her voice disturbed a whitish mass in the corner and it surged upwards, separating to reveal itself to be hundreds, perhaps thousands, of luminous butterflies.   
Alya felt her mouth grow dry. _Butterflies_. White, uncorrupted, butterflies, like the ones Ladybug released from her yo-yo at the end of every akuma fight.  
Either the Agrestes had a very strange collecting habit, or she was standing in Hawkmoth’s lair.   
Which meant there was only one logical conclusion.  
”Oh my god,” she whispered into the silence.

”Adrien Agreste is Hawkmoth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I was Hawkmoth, I would totally build an entire network of secret tunnels throughout my house.


	4. Conversations in a Lair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we all thank Nino for being the only non-kwami in this whole story with any common sense.

She had to do something. Tell someone. She wasn’t sure if her heart would last much longer. Besides, _someone_ needed to know she was here, because if Adrien came back in... if Adrien found where she had gone...  
Ending the video, Alya flicked to her contacts folder and nearly pushed the button to call Marinette before reconsidering. Even if Marinette believed her, she wasn’t in the best headspace to deal with this right now. She punched the icon next to Nino instead and held the phone to her ear, hearing it ring and ring and ring.

”Alya, what the hell?” Nino’s voice was sluggish, and Alya realised a little guiltily that it probably wasn’t yet five in the morning.  
”This is important,” she said. ”Nino, okay, you have to listen. So I broke into Adrien’s house...”  
”You did _what?_ ” Nino said, incredulously. He sounded much more awake.  
Alya huffed. ” _Yes_. We can talk about that later. Anyway, long story short, I found this place in the basement of Adrien’s house with _butterflies_. As in, pre-akumas. As in, it’s Hawkmoth’s lair.”  
A beat of silence passed. ”Are you sure?” Nino asked at last.  
Alya sent him the video. Precious minutes trickled by.  
”Okay,” Nino said finally. Alya allowed herself to breathe. ”Yeah, that looks like it could be Hawkmoth’s lair.”  
”Have you ever noticed Adrien acting kind of weird? Like, around akumas?”  
”Well, yeah, he always seems to run-”  
”And does he ever seem to know what happened in an akuma fight, even when he wasn’t there?”  
”Well, yeah, but-”  
”And has he ever shown a particular interest in Ladybug and her miraculous?”  
”Well, yeah, but if you’re looking for an unhealthy interest in Ladybug you need a mirro-”  
”Don’t you see?” Alya said triumphantly. ”Adrien is Hawkmoth.”  
Silence streamed down the phone. Nino croaked. He cleared his throat.  
”Alya, I really hope you’re drunk or high or _something_ , because -leaving aside the fact that you seem way too happy about this- that is insane.”  
”The evidence can’t be disputed.”  
All she heard from the other end of the line was a long, long sigh.  
”Alya,” Nino said flatly. ”Even supposing that _is_ Hawkmoth’s lair, two people live in that house. One is a isolated and cold man with a history of being unkind who probably helped design the house in the first place. The other is my best friend and our precious sunshine child. And you think, of those two possibilities, that _Adrien_ is the one who’s most likely to be Hawkmoth?”  
Alya sighed. ”Okay, okay. So I might have jumped to conclusions.”  
”Just a little bit,” Nino muttered.  
”But that still doesn’t mean he isn’t involved somehow! Maybe that’s why he was kissing Ladybug! Hawkmoth is using him to lure her so he can get her miraculous.”  
”Wait, what? Why would he be kissing Ladybug?” Nino said. ”He loves Marinette. I mean, sure, he has a bit of a crush on Ladybug- don’t we all- but he’s committed to Marinette. Adrien isn’t that kind of guy. Trust me.”  
”I _saw_ them.”  
”Then I’m sure there’s an explanation. Alya. Please. Get Adrien and Marinette and Ladybug, and talk it out until you have the full story.”  
”Sorry, Nino. I have to go. There’s this weird table thing in Hawkmoth’s lair- it’s got a cage on it, and there’s something inside.”  
”Are you saying you’re _still in Hawkmoth’s lair?”_ Nino nearly yelled, his voice rising. ”Get out of there!”  
”Sorry, Nino, got to go,” Alya said brightly and hung up. She took another step towards the cage with its dull grey bars and what looked like a soft purple tennis ball lying inside it. The purple thing rose and fell rhythmically, like it was breathing.  
”Um,” Alya said, coming closer.  
The purple thing came to life, whizzing upright and hovering in the air. Its eyes were round and wide with shock. Alya took a step backwards, clutching her phone to her chest.  
It looked- it looked- her sluggish mind finally caught up with her dropped jaw and she collected herself. The only... thing she had ever seen remotely like that had been Trixx.  
”You’re a kwami,” she said at last.  
The purple kwami started, bobbing up and down before stilling.  
”How do you know about kwami?” it asked suspiciously. ”Are you a miraculous holder? Are you... Ladybug?” The desperation in its voice didn’t go unnoticed.  
”I wish,” Alya sighed. ”No, I’m not Ladybug. But I was-” Her mouth clamped down suddenly. She had _promised_ to keep her temporary stint as a superhero secret. She didn’t know if that extended to caged purple kwami located in what was clearly Hawkmoth’s lair, but for once in her life she was going to err on the side of caution.  
”I’m Alya,” she said. ”I’m a reporter. I run a blog about Ladybug and Chat Noir, and oh my god I just realised, you must be _Hawkmoth’s_ kwami.” She took a step backwards and swallowed. ”Are you going to akumatize me? _Can_ you?”  
”I do what my master tells me to do,” the kwami said patiently. ”If he comes and transforms, yes, I may be forced to akumatize you. You have a lot of emotions. But not before then.”  
”Do you have a name?”  
The kwami laughed. ”You may know what a kwami is, Mademoiselle, but you certainly have not spent much time around them. Of course I have a name. I am Nooroo, and yes, I am Hawkmoth’s kwami.”  
”Gabriel Agreste’s kwami,” Alya said flatly.  
Nooroo nodded.  
”Can I interview you?” she said eagerly, journalistic instincts once again overwhelming any sense of self-preservation.  
”My master cannot find out you were here and spoke to me. In fact, you should leave immediately. However, if you were able to send a private message to Ladybug and Chat Noir...”  
”I can do that,” Alya said quickly. ”Here, look. I’ll video you, you can say whatever you want to say to say, I’ll ask you a few questions, and then I’ll get out of here. Alright?”  
”That sounds like a good plan.”  
”Great,” Alya said, beaming as she switched to her camera function. She aimed it at herself first and spoke chirpily.  
”Hi Ladybug and Chat Noir, this is Alya Cesaire of the Ladyblog, reporting to you directly from Hawkmoth’s lair. With me today is Monsieur Nooroo, who is Hawkmoth’s kwami. He has a very important message for you. Over to you, sir.” She turned the camera to focus on Nooroo and the purple kwami cleared his throat, looking a shade pale.  
”Greetings,” he started. ”To you, Ladybug, and to you, Chat Noir. And to Tikki and Plagg as well. I am Nooroo. By the time you receive this message, its bearer Mademoiselle Cesaire will have told you the true identity of Hawkmoth and you will soon be on your way to defeat him. Ladybug- Chat Noir- I am here to urge you to spare his life. Gabriel has strayed far away from the path of good, it is true. But he is still my Chosen and he is not at his core evil. All he has done, he has done for love.” His wide, concerned eyes filled with tears. ”Tikki, Plagg, you know we choose our bearers in part because they are capable of such great love. You know, too, how terrible those loves can be. Gabriel hopes that by taking your miraculouses, he will be able to restore his wife and the mother of his son. He has torn the City of Love apart for the sake of love, and while I know he must be defeated, I am asking you both to show mercy when you find him and take his miraculous. Please help him. He is just human and Adrien and I are all he has left.” The kwami finished with a slight nod and turned to Alya.  
”Monsieur Nooroo, can you confirm once again that Hawkmoth is in fact Gabriel Agreste?”  
”Yes,” Nooroo whispered.  
”Thank you for your candour, sir. That’s all from us. Alya Cesaire, signing off.” She finished the recording and stared at her phone, scarcely able to believe it.  
”You need to go,” Nooroo said at last. ”Show that to Ladybug and Chat Noir. Make sure no one else sees. And, Mademoiselle?”  
”Yes?”  
”Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everybody who is reading this and a special thanks to those of you who leave kudos and comments! Much appreciated :)


End file.
